72 heritage for peace and reconciliation | manual for teacherContentsFocus on freedom of choicepa Pedagogical approachConnection with historical events also begins with attention to individual freedom ofchoice. What dilemmas were these individuals faced with? Do you find dilemmas inyour own life as well? What would you choose to do in those circumstances? Attentionmust be paid to individual freedom of choice, despite the circumstances.tlTeaching limitationTo what extent can you empathize with the situation, life experiences and the thoughtsof others (e.g. that of a young soldier on a warship)? How can you grasp the thoughts,feelings and expectations of someone else, particularly if they have a different perspective,perhaps one that contradicts yours?In addition, each story has several different sides. While it may be tempting to generalizecomplex diversity – suggesting that anyone would have done the same – thisposition ignores the possibility of making independent choices.to Teaching optionYou can learn to choose! If children learn early to understand the process of making achoice, they will be able to use this skill throughout their lives. For this reason, learningto choose is often implicit, although it is sometimes explicitly included, in the exitqualifications of curricula in many countries.Pins badges witheducation rightsmessages at theYouth Fair held onMalala Day at UNheadquarters inNew York. © DevraBerkowitz/UN Photo.
Contentsassessment points for peace education based on heritage73Those who have never learned how to make a choice, or to consider good or badchoices, are at risk of making the wrong choices at important moments. Choosing isa skill. It requires people to understand themselves and the world. Learning to chooseis a skill that can be developed.Secondary schools could learn a great deal from early childhood education. In manycountries, preschool children choose their own activities from several possibilities offeredby their teachers. In this way, children discover what they like, and they learn tochoose things that correspond to their own interests and capabilities. Preschool childrenare likely to choose activities for which they are ready at a given time. Learning tomake choices independently has considerable value in and of itself. It is also importantlater in life, as it is always necessary to make new choices. This can sometimes occurhundreds of times each day: what to eat, what to buy, when to sleep, which televisionprogrammes to watch. In addition, however, everyone sometimes makes choices ofgreater importance: which job to pursue, where to live, where to pursue higher education.It is the job of a school to train students to become people capable of makingautonomous choices.During war and other extreme circumstances, choices are obviously more limited thanthey are in times of peace. Nevertheless, people continue to make choices. One excitingschool project could be to work with the students to examine stories from theWar and its naval events focusing on the minor and major choices that people made.I am sorry for the people that have to fight in war becausesometimes they have no choice.Declan, England, 13Treat emotions with cautionpa Pedagogical approachDealing with past atrocities is highly emotional. Here, evoking emotions is not thegoal, but a step towards understanding, reflection and action. Merely confrontingstudents with shocking images or sad stories, without further explanation, has little orno educational value.
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